Compartmentalization is a myth

The whole Monica Lewinsky affair had far more influence on our nation than most might think. Something valuable was lost during the 90s, Americans saw the leader of the nation lie, deny, and then rationalize at every turn.  The collective effect on the nation was the death of traditional ethics. The message was clear, character no longer mattered, truth no longer mattered, sexual purity in marriage no longer mattered, the only thing that matters is fulfilling your desires.  

Clinton's line "that depends on what the definition of 'is' is" perfectly summed up the mindset that freed society from the shackles of traditional ethics.  Sexual deviancy is ok as long as its consensual, and it's not really sex anyway led to a generation of kids imitating the president.  

Wall Street no longer had to play by the rules, freed from traditional ethics they amassed fortunes for themselves using every trick in the book (eventually leading to the subprime mortgage bundling and Bernie Madoff).  

But the Clinton mess also brought out an interesting rationalization.  Bill was able to "compartmentalize" his philandering.  One minute he could be responsibly serving the American people and the next he could be chasing skirts.  Each area of his life neatly separated from the other without any side effects. 

But compartmentalization is a myth.

One of the big lies we tell ourselves when rationalizing sin is "I can handle this, it won't effect the rest of my life".  This is compartmentalization.  We might be able to mask the effects of sin for period of time and everything seems normal, but the spiritual effects will start to show.  Hiding sin requires deceit, it poisons our spiritual life, it invades our thoughts and weighs us down with guilt.  We can't compartmentalize sin because sin is always active, desiring more, destroying more.

“But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the LORD, and be sure your sin will find you out." -Numbers 32:23

If you believe you can manage sin, compartmentalize and control it, BEWARE it is waiting at the door and will consume you.